Column

Is there a crisis, or isn’t there? The absence of key political leaders at what seems to be a critical moment in the life of the Manmohan Singh government is decidedly odd. The CPI(M)’s main interlocutor with the Congress, Sitaram Yechury, flew off to London on Friday with his West Bengal party chief Biman Bose for a fund-raising expedition among Left-leaning NRIs. (Yes, there are some around!) He was quite vague about his return date before he left, telling some that he’s going for four days and telling others that he’ll be back only after a week.

Another important player, Amar Singh, whose Samajwadi Party is supposed to bail out the government in case the Left withdraws support, is sitting tight in the United States. He hasn’t felt compelled to fly back, although some reports would have us believe that the man who wasn’t invited for dinner at 10, Janpath when the UPA and Left sealed their stormy alliance in May 2004, is now a mere phone call away from the high table at Sonia Gandhi’s residence.

An active back channel boy for the nuclear deal, National Security Advisor MK Narayanan, disappeared to Sri Lanka on Friday. And the man who is playing peacemaker between the Congress and the Left, Sharad Pawar, is scheduled to leave for London, wearing his cricket boss hat. He will be the chief guest at a celebratory function to mark the 25th anniversary of India’s World Cup victory. While the media is busy with frenzied predictions about the imminent collapse of the government, the politicos seem to be remarkably cool. For them, it’s business as usual in today’s coalition era.

Everyone is taking up positions, either for the nuclear deal or against it. The only person who hasn’t revealed her mind yet is the one who will make or break the government, Sonia Gandhi. The main sport in political circles these days is to read her lips. But if you can’t, don’t worry. Read Jairam Ramesh’s lips instead. That’s what some of those outside the charmed circle do when looking for signals from 10, Janpath or 12, Tughlak Lane (Rahul Gandhi’s residence). As speechwriter, Ramesh is believed to be among the select few privy to their thoughts, at least on some issues. And he happily parrots them on every occasion. A true weathercock, somebody described him. These days, he’s making a strong pitch for the nuclear deal. At every function he’s attended in the past four weeks, Ramesh has mentioned the deal and said it’s the only solution to our energy problems. Is he his mistress’ voice then? The pro-dealwallahs in the Congress are hoping he is.

TAILPIECE

The monsoon session of Parliament is going to be a truncated one, not because of the nuclear standoff but because Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee is going to be busy with elections to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Union till August 10. No, he’s not standing but another ‘Indian’ is, Swraj Paul. As a member of the UK Parliament’s House of Lords, Paul has thrown his hat into the ring and created a dilemma for India. Ideally, Chatterjee would like to play a statesmanlike role at the CPU by being non-partisan and emerging as a leader of the non-white bloc of nations in the Commonwealth family. But Paul has strong backers in India where he has invested heavily over the years. An interesting contest is on the anvil. This year’s monsoon session will be different from others. The curtain will rise with a speech by Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen in the Central Hall of Parliament. Sen will kick off what Chatterjee hopes to convert into an institution, an annual Parliament lecture by world intellectuals and celebrities.

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net